Word Is Bond Page #11

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over a ten-minute beat,

but it was...

it was in times like this that

slowly shaped me and refined me

and taught me how to actually

write a song,

an arc.

Here's how the story starts.

You want to hit your ending.

A big part of it was Ant

but also working

with somebody like Ali.

Not just exchange ideas

but also to exchange

techniques.

So this is

the home and, uh, work space

of Ant,

and he's the anchor

and he's the center

of what we do at Rhymesayers.

All of the founding artists

came through him.

[Ant] All right.

That was a four-track

over here.

A couple of them, actually.

One of them is Slug's

from back in the day.

There's even a old picture

of my basement.

It's kind of tight.

This is all hip-hop right here,

and I think over here is just

things I might rip off...

well, I won't be

ripping them off

now that I showed you that.

I have, like, choice things,

you know what I mean,

like... that are in the front,

like my DST,

pretty much made me

want to start scratching.

I grew up in the military.

I, uh, traveled around a lot,

moved around.

I didn't move here till 1990.

Well, I had my four-track,

and I put a little flyer out

saying, like,

"I'll record you."

Everybody was working

their jobs

and doing whatever they did,

and on Sunday,

they would come over here.

They would just freestyle

on a beat.

If I thought we connected,

I'd be like, "Oh,

let's be Tribe Called Quest

or whatever the hell."

They had a ritual

of just working

at an amazing rate.

Everybody in the crew

would write,

minimum, five to ten songs

a week,

and Ant would make somewhere

in the area of,

like, 30 to 50 beats

in a week.

You know, come together

and figure out

how to turn beats and rhymes

into music.

Slug was a lot different

at the time,

but the big thing

with me and him was

his dedication and work ethic.

If he would show up

at 3 p. m.,

he would stay till 3 a. m.

He wanted just to say

a bunch of sh*t.

He just wanted to say

all kinds of stuff.

When I started performing,

I started realizing that...

that I could say things

to groups of people

to make them hear me

and see me

and set me aside from

all the other MCs in my city.

Well, who's you

with the braids?

Them shits is too tight

What the f***

you even trying to do?

Come and grab the mic

I come all the way down

to the Sin City

From the Twin Cities

To show you

you can't get with me

Sh*t, your flows

is shitty

Shitty twice, twice

Made me say the sh*t thrice

It pushed me

to go into myself

and look for

the parts of myself that...

would stand out,

and a lot of that,

I think,

came down to, um,

showing vulnerability.

It just happened.

We knew that your rhymes

were a reflection of you,

like you could never separate

the art from the person.

It gave you permission

to redefine everything

and to reexamine everything.

We have a lot of, like,

really similar things

in common.

We both moved around a lot

when we were kids.

You know, we both were

kind of, like, outcasts.

We both didn't really look

to people like we should be

doing the things

that we love to do.

I mean, obviously,

I'm albino.

I'm not, you know,

the Kentucky Fried Chicken man

or anything.

You know, being a kid

in the Midwest,

not that many people knew

what a albino was,

so from the time

that I was really little,

you know, I was

really outcasted

and I was really

treated like a nonperson.

Black elders and friends

and peers and enemies,

like, recognized me

as a person

and also had some wisdom

to help me navigate

what it... what it's like

to have this presentation

that's so unacceptable

to people.

I grew, like,

this appreciation

not only just

for my friendships

and my relationships

and all that stuff

but then also

for this particular type of

approach to life

that to me is really precious.

Raising a man

You're slipping

through my hands

Like grains of sand

And here I stand

Trying to wrestle

with the hourglass

Maybe see how long

I can make an hour last

Dear black son

[Ant] You create

these relationships,

and then you can get

the deeper songs.

You're gonna write

some very delicate songs,

and you need

encouragement sometimes.

- [Brother Ali] Mm-hmm.

- [Ant] You just do, you know?

The courage to do

those very sensitive songs.

- What's up, man?

- Oh, my man.

- My man.

- Good to see you, brother.

- Good to see you too.

- All right, now.

- What's up, Ali?

- How you, bro?

Good to see you, man.

I go by Dem Atlas.

I'm a new artist

signed to RSE.

I remember Atmosphere

bringing me

on my first shows out of town.

It's really dope

to see you come out with

all of the energy and all

of the newness and, like...

like, for us, we get to kind of

almost relive those moments.

Everybody know

we do it with love

We do it with love

We give love

and we get love

Come up in the place

And we ain't trying

to get our d*cks up

We do not spend our money

at a f***ing strip club

Take it home

and feed the babies

That's how we get love

[Lil Bibby] Y'all ready to

word for word this, New York?

What do you say?

I be with pistol-toting

Kush-smoking, lean-pouring

Crazy-ass niggas

Nigga want some work,

just pull up

Make sure you bring

the cash with you

I be blowing money fast,

nigga

Try me,

that's your ass, nigga

Nigga talking down

about Buckz

Probably 'cause I don't

f*** with that nigga

I say I did this sh*t

for my dogs

Just make a call,

they risk it all

Or if it's that

I just send them a text

Have my young uns

come through

Make it rain on your set

Sleeping on couches,

have pains in my neck

Now I got three or four

chains on my neck

B*tches be tripping,

I can't f*** with that

Cut that b*tch off 'cause

I ain't for the stress

These niggas be

set tripping

Switching sides,

set flipping

Eminem is one of my

top three favorite lyricists

ever, man.

I think he got the craziest

flows of everybody.

What he say...

I sit back

With this pack

of Zig Zags

And this weed,

it gets me

This sh*t needed to be

the most...

[laughs] Kendrick probably

is in the top three

right now too,

but I think he, like,

study Eminem.

Eminem, he had to have, like,

one of the biggest waves...

like, you know

what I'm saying...

in hip-hop history.

He wasn't even black.

I have to be

going through a lot.

I come up with the best stuff

when I'm stressed out.

When I'm mad or, like,

stuff like that,

I make turn-up club music,

you know? [laughs]

[man] What about

when you're happy, though?

When I'm happy...

I don't like the music

when I'm happy.

I'm not gonna lie to you.

[laughs]

But I got so many problems,

man, you know.

It's a lot to rap about.

I gotta keep my head

above water

I've been going hard,

gotta go a little harder

I've been thinking smart,

gotta think a little smarter

All I know is hustle,

get that sh*t regardless

Real hustler,

I'ma get that sh*t regardless

I will not starve, b*tch

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